“Bereavement is a darkness impenetrable to the imagination of the unbereaved.”

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When their dad, Les, died suddenly in July 2013, just five weeks after being diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, the lives of his five children were turned upside down. Les was the keystone of the family: kind, gentle, fun-loving and adored. In the midst of their devastation, three of his children

Fergus Wessel, one of Britain's finest letter cutters, talks about the recent revival of hand-carved headstones, and the difference between hand-carved and machine cut memorials.
Before the 19th Century, headstones were often carved by the village mason who had little skill or training in

Following retirement from Humberside police, where he led a team investigating suspicious deaths, Philip Spicksley retrained as an independent funeral celebrant. Now President of the Association of Independent Celebrants, Phil discusses how his experience of investigating suspicious deaths

Dying Matters champion Tony Bonser shares his very personal diary from Dying Matters Awareness Week 2014
The week started far too early, with a taxi outside our house at 5.30am on Monday to take us to the BBC studios at Media City, Salford. Although actually it had really started the

As readers of this blog will know, Dying Matters Awareness Week has just ended, and at the Childhood Bereavement Network (CBN) we were particularly interested in Dying Matters research findings that showed, among other things, that the vast majority (83%) of the public believe that people in

A Graceful Death is a powerful exhibition by Antonia Rolls which uses portraits, poems, interviews, film and music inspired by people who are dying to prompt conversations about the end of life. Kate Granger, a terminally ill doctor and writer who on Monday gives the Dying Matters lecture, is one

Victoria Moore and Morag Cormack are co-founders of the world's first iPhone Legacy Organiser, which lets users record how they would like to be remembered and to plan ahead for their funeral and farewell. The app is being used by the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted to help facilitate

Tony and Dorothy Bonser's son, Neil (pictured, further down the page, at his graduation), died of cancer in March 2009. In the years since, the couple have become heavily involved in campaigning for improvements to end of life care, and are Dying Matters champions. Tony, a retired

Annecy Lax, creative producer of the Ice & Fire theatre company, tells us about their latest production, The Nine O'Clock Slot, which she co-wrote. The play pulls together stories about those who die with neither funds nor loved ones to pay for their funeral.
“When I am

Since his daughter Melissa’s death from non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2008, Ian Leech has worked to raise awareness of end of life and bereavement care.
Melissa was diagnosed the day after her 20th birthday and died less than a year later. Since then, Ian has raised more than £20